It is October 9, 2018 I just made my visit to Conjuring Arts Research Center (CARC) early in the morning. It is a not-for-profit organization, based in New York City in the United States, dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of magic and its allied arts. World’s first and greatest place to do research on all things related to magic and conjuring. A very unique center in its kind. Sounds interesting right? Same for me! as I was very eager to be there.
I was fortunate to have a tour through the center by Bill Kalush․ He is the Executive Director of the center, lifelong student of sleight of hand, magic and it’s histories. He is a co-author of book The Secret Life of Houdini. Luckily for me, I was able to get this book from NYU Bobst Library. Probably, no one knows about legendary Harry Houdini more than himself. Also, the center owns many unique materials, such as top secret diaries of H. Houdini, the very first books about magic. Some of those are the only copies ever existed. We have been walking through the hall talking on magic and at some point we end up by the equipment used to digitizing all the paper materials. Despite the books the center own a large number of papers, letters and other personal materials from famous magicians. It was very interesting to see how magicians were using technology in the past. This is the most interesting part, as my current research includes all aspects and intersections of magic and technologies.
In a moment later, I met one of the greatest magicians, legendary David Roth, who was working on a curriculum for his upcoming on-line magic sessions. It a pleasure meeting someone who has shaped the close up magic, particularly coin magic, in a new way. He is an author of many books and video instructions, which I was fortunate to have. Luckily, I had a chance to share my magic with him and get some valuable feedback.
